The corn bunting has suffered one of the most dramatic declines of any UK farmland bird, with intensification of arable farming destroying the habitat and food resources it depends on.
Corn buntings have experienced profound welfare harm through agricultural intensification. Early cutting of grass removes nesting habitat and exposes chicks to predators and temperature extremes. Insecticide use destroys the invertebrate prey essential for chick survival. Herbicides eliminate seed-producing weeds needed by adults through winter. Where agri-environment schemes create suitable habitat - late-cut margins, mixed farming systems, overwinter stubbles - corn buntings recover, demonstrating the direct link between farming practice and bird welfare.